Mom’s Choice Awards Gold Award Recipient Professional organizer Barbara Reich offers a life-changing program—focused on decluttering and streamlining your home—that helps families live simpler, less chaotic lives: “Everyone should Barbarafy,” raves The New York Times . Mothers can feel like life is one never-ending loop. Just when one problem or responsibility is overcome, another one trips us up. But help is on the way: Barbara Reich has all the strategies for staying ahead of the curve—and she’s wrapped them up into four easy steps that can be applied to any organizing project: purge, design, organize, and maintain. The keys to Barbara’s success are simplicity and consistency. Room by room, she goes through the most problematic areas in the home—from the tornado-struck play area to the packed basement or storage unit—and approaches organizing in manageable bites. In addition to cleaning and organizing tips, she talks about how to avoid social overload, preaching the power of “No”—for example, when your child wants to attend six birthday parties in one weekend. As the mother of thirteen-year-old twins, Barbara offers insight into the lives of crazed moms as only a mother could. Combining the humor of a sympathetic friend and the no-nonsense advice of a true type-A personality, Reich offers clever, appealing solutions that are genuinely achievable for everyone. “Everyone should Barbarafy!” ― New York Times “Reich delivers. Her book just might take the anxiety out of tasks that many find completely daunting and overwhelming.” -- Publishers Weekly "Every mom should read Secrets of an Organized Mom . Power-packed with all you need to know to get and stayed organized, this book is the ultimate guide for anyone reorganizing, relocating, or just trying to make sense of the clutter." -- Tina Reber ― New York Times bestselling author of Love Unscripted and Love Unrehearsed “Barbara is a great editor. She took her razor sharp eye and cut a swath through my closet. When you can't see the forest through the trees, Barbara can. She's a true lifesaver!” -- Judith Regan ― host of the Judith Regan Show on SiriusXM “Secrets of an Organized Mom gets you excited to organize your home. Who knew that was possible? It is packed with great tips to help you create a plan to organize your home in a fast and effective manner, which is a huge stress relief for busy moms. And she keeps it simple, so it’s perfect for organization rookies.” ― MomItForward.com “Barbara Reich gives busy moms the tools get their homes—and their lives—in perfect order. Secrets of an Organized Mom is stuffed full of helpful tips for tackling chaotic countertops, scary storage spaces and everything in between. All hail the Clutter Queen!” ― Modernmom.com "Barbara Reich makes having an organized house look so easy! And it can be if you follow some of her tips and stick with it.” ― MacaroniKid.com Barbara Reich formed Resourceful Consultants, LLC in 1999. Barbara has appeared on the Today show and has been featured in The New York Times , New York Post , and Real Simple , among other publications. She and her husband live in Manhattan with their twins. For more information, visit SecretsOfAnOrganizedMom.com. Secrets of an Organized Mom INTRODUCTION If you’re a mom, no matter whether you’re married or single, and no matter how involved your partner is, I guarantee that the lion’s share of keeping the home together and functioning falls on your shoulders. I often joke that in my next life, I’d like to come back as my husband . . . married to me. I’m telling you, that man has a good deal. This is no insult to my husband or to anyone else’s wonderful life partner—it’s just a fact of life that moms tend to do more. And in my years of experience working with families, I’ve seen it’s true whether the mother works outside the home or not. Taking care of our families is what we do as moms. It’s in our nature, and we couldn’t stop if we tried. This doesn’t mean that it’s easy for us, however. And sometimes it seems to get harder every day. Our family’s schedules are more chaotic, we have more stuff and more responsibilities. We have lists that get longer, never shorter, and we feel perpetually exhausted and burdened by how much we have to do and how little (we think) we actually get done. Meanwhile, there are so many expectations of us. We’re expected to nurture our children’s developing brains, volunteer at school, keep our families healthy, our homes impeccably organized and decorated, our partners romantically satisfied, and our bodies well exercised. Oh, and we’re also told to be sure to “take time for ourselves.” Most mothers I know feel like life is one big game of Whac-A-Mole. Just when we’ve smacked down one problem or responsibility, another one pokes up its stubborn little head. And we keep on flailing and reacting, doing our best, but with no time to formulate a plan of attack. This book is your plan.